Can VLC Android play FLAC files?

VLC media player is a popular, free and open source cross-platform multimedia player developed by the VideoLAN project. First released in 2001, VLC has grown to become one of the most widely used media players with over 3 billion downloads across various platforms including Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS and more. VLC supports playback of a wide range of audio and video formats without the need for additional codecs, thanks to its built-in libavcodec library.

FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) is an audio coding format for lossless compression of digital audio. Developed in 2000, FLAC is designed to compress audio files without losing quality, unlike lossy formats like MP3. FLAC is supported by many media players and devices. The advantage of FLAC is it produces smaller files than uncompressed audio, at the cost of requiring more processing power to encode/decode.

This article focuses specifically on VLC media player’s support for FLAC audio playback in its Android mobile app. We will provide an overview of how well VLC handles the increasingly popular FLAC format on Android phones and tablets, discuss its capabilities, limitations, and compatibility across various Android versions.

VLC Media Player Overview

VLC media player is a free and open-source media player created by the VideoLAN project. It was first released in February 2001. The software is available for desktop operating systems like Windows, macOS, and Linux, as well as mobile platforms like Android, iOS, iPadOS, Tizen, and Windows Phone.

As a free and open source cross-platform player, VLC supports a wide range of audio and video file formats including MP4, MKV, MOV, DivX, H.264, mp3, and FLAC without needing to install additional codecs. It can also play DVDs, CDs, and various streaming protocols. VLC is able to stream media over networks and perform basic editing tasks like rotating videos.

Some of the key features that make VLC popular include:

Open source codebase with contributors worldwide
Capable of playing most media files and discs
Live streaming and recording capabilities

Customizable interface with various skins and themes
Extensions and plugins to add functionality

With its free availability, format compatibility, streaming, and encoding support, VLC continues to be one of the most popular media players globally. It is maintained by the VideoLAN non-profit organization.

FLAC Audio Format Overview

FLAC stands for Free Lossless Audio Codec, an audio format developed by the Xiph.Org Foundation. As described on the official FLAC website at https://xiph.org/flac/, FLAC is an open, patent-free audio encoding format designed for lossless compression of digital audio files.

Lossless compression means that FLAC encodes audio in a way that allows the original audio to be perfectly reconstructed from the compressed file. This differs from lossy formats like MP3 which achieve smaller file sizes by permanently discarding quality during compression. Because of its lossless nature, FLAC provides much better audio fidelity than lossy formats at the cost of larger file sizes.

The creators of FLAC designed the format with the goals of efficient compression, fast encoding/decoding speed, independence from CPU architecture, and error detection and correction. FLAC is supported by many media players and music library software. It provides a free open standard alternative to proprietary lossless formats like WAV, AIFF, Apple Lossless, and WMA Lossless.

VLC’s Android App

VLC for Android was initially released on January 2011 in the Android Market (now Google Play Store) by the VideoLAN project. It quickly became one of the most downloaded media player apps,
currently with over 500 million downloads on Google Play alone.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VLC_media_player

The Android version of VLC contains most of the features of the desktop version in a mobile-optimized package. It supports a wide range of audio and video formats including MKV, MP4, AVI, MOV, Ogg, FLAC, TS, M2TS, Wv and AAC. VLC for Android leverages multiple cores for effective decoding of various codecs and formats. It provides hardware acceleration and colorspace conversion features.

Notable capabilities include network file browsing and streaming, playback history and resume, gesture controls, subtitle downloads and support for Chromecast streaming.

FLAC Playback Support

The Android operating system has included native support for playback of FLAC audio files since version 3.1 Honeycomb in 2011. This means that compatible Android devices are able to natively decode and play FLAC files without needing additional software or codecs.

VLC Media Player’s Android app also provides full support for FLAC file decoding and playback. VLC uses its own audio decoding libraries like libFLAC rather than relying on the built-in Android decoders. This allows VLC to play FLACs on older Android versions before native support was added.

However, some users have reported issues with stuttering, skipping, or stopping prematurely when playing FLACs in VLC Android. This seems to occur more frequently on older Android OS versions. Potential workarounds include enabling hardware decoding in settings, switching to software decoding mode, or upgrading to a newer Android release if possible.

How to Play FLACs on VLC Android

VLC Media Player for Android has built-in support for playing FLAC audio files. However, you may need to enable FLAC playback in the app settings first:

Open VLC and go to Settings > Audio
Under “Supported audio files” make sure FLAC is checked

Restart VLC for the change to take effect

Once FLAC playback is enabled, you can import FLAC files into VLC Android in a few ways:

Use the “Open network stream” option and enter the URL or network path of your FLAC files

Connect your Android device to your computer via USB and transfer the FLAC files directly into VLC’s folder using your computer’s file browser
Upload your FLAC files to cloud storage like Google Drive or Dropbox, then open them in VLC Android from the cloud storage app

If you are having trouble getting VLC to recognize your FLAC files, here are some troubleshooting tips:

Make sure your FLAC files use the .flac extension and are not mislabeled as .mp3 or other formats
Try restarting your Android device and re-importing the FLAC files into VLC
Check that you have enough free storage space for the FLAC audio files

In VLC settings, disable “Detect external storage” which can sometimes interfere with FLAC imports

Following these instructions should allow you to successfully play back FLAC audio files using the VLC app for Android.

FLAC Encoding Support

VLC for Android does not natively support encoding or creating FLAC files as of the latest stable release version 3.4.6. There is currently no option built into the app to convert and save other audio files like MP3 to FLAC format.

According to recent user reports on forums like Reddit (source), encoding FLAC files is still not possible even in the VLC Android nightly builds. The feature has been a long requested one but has not yet been implemented by the VideoLAN development team.

For Android users who need to encode audio to FLAC, the recommended options are to use a third-party app like MediaHuman Audio Converter, which has options to convert between MP3, WAV, FLAC and other formats. There are also mobile versions of open source encoding tools like ffmpeg that can be installed to enable FLAC creation.

Hopefully native FLAC encoding will be added in a future VLC for Android update, as it would allow direct conversion of audio played in VLC without needing a separate app. But for now, third party software is required for encoding FLAC files on Android devices.

Alternatives for FLAC Playback

While VLC is a popular app for playing FLAC files on Android, there are other options users may want to consider:

foobar2000 is an alternative FLAC player app for Android that supports gapless playback and has a customizable interface (source). Compared to VLC, foobar2000 lacks some features like Chromecast streaming but may have lower latency for sensitive listeners.

AIMP is another option focused on hi-res audio and codec support, but has a more dated interface. However, it can play FLACs up to 32-bit/384 kHz sample rates (source).

For those who want a free but full-featured FLAC player, Musicolet is worth considering. It handles playlists, gapless playback, and format support in a modern package. But it lacks some extras like tag editing and Chromecast support (source).

The Future of VLC and FLAC

Despite some current issues with stuttering and lag when playing FLAC files in VLC’s Android app, the development team has plans to improve FLAC playback in future updates.

According to posts on the VLC development forums and GitHub issues tracker, optimizations like GPU decoding and audio passthrough are being worked on to reduce performance problems. The VLC developers are committed to enhancing the Android app and ensuring smoother FLAC playback.

Lossless audio formats like FLAC seem to be growing in popularity as storage space increases and more consumers invest in high-quality audio equipment. While streaming services like Spotify still dominate with their compressed formats, demand exists for uncompressed music among audiophiles.

As FLAC continues gaining listeners, VLC’s developers have incentive to keep enhancing FLAC support across platforms. Considering VLC’s open source nature and reliance on user feedback, Android users can likely expect improvements to FLAC playback in forthcoming VLC versions.

Conclusion

To recap, VLC media player is able to play FLAC audio files on its Android app. The latest versions of VLC’s Android app include full support for decoding and playback of FLAC files. This allows Android users to enjoy high-quality FLAC music and audio on their devices via VLC.

VLC’s FLAC playback capabilities on Android do come with some minor limitations. Seeking and scrolling within FLAC files does not always work perfectly. Additionally, the Android app lacks some of the more advanced audio options and customization available in VLC’s desktop app. However, for most basic FLAC playback purposes, VLC on Android performs admirably.

In summary, VLC remains one of the most versatile and capable media players available across platforms. The ability to freely play FLAC audio files on Android expands VLC’s appeal for Android users with high-quality digital music libraries. As VLC continues improving its Android app, FLAC support will likely become even more robust and seamless. For now, VLC provides an excellent option for listening to FLACs on your Android smartphone or tablet.